Tulipanes en Holanda: El Esplendor de la Primavera

Por: Patricia Sendra

La alarma sonó y media sonámbula, me acerque al radio-reloj para ver la hora. Eran las 4 y media de la mañana y no podía creer que me tenía que levantar ya. Se que estaba de vacaciones y se que los turistas tienen que siempre estar listos para aprovechar las oportunidades. ¡Pero estaba madrugando solo para ver flores! ¡Si, flores! De todos tipos y todos colores, desfilando en filas, docenas y millones en la casa de subasta de flores mas grande del mundo. Era el comienzo de la primavera y estábamos en  Holanda, capital de los tulipanes.

El espectáculo floral más grande del mundo toma lugar todos los años en la ciudad de Lisse, en las afueras de la capital Ámsterdam. Los jardines Keukenhof contienen más de 70 acres con 6 millones de tulipanes, narcisos y jacintos. Y la primavera es el tiempo ideal para una visita cuando uno puede disfrutar casi 10 millas de caminos, fuentes, lagos y observar miles de bulbos floreciendo, incluyendo más de 500 variedades de tulipanes.

El área donde están ubicados hoy estos jardines comenzó como territorio de caza  de un castillo en el siglo XV. En esa era, la condesa que residía ahí, cultivaba y recogía hierbas y plantas para la cocina del castillo. De ahí, surgió su nombre Keukenhof, que significa “jardín de cocina”. Los jardines, en su forma actual, abrieron al público en 1949 como  una exposición floral.

El parque está dividido en siete jardines temáticos, con instalaciones dedicadas a  temas variados: color, fragancia, estilo abstracto, agua, fronteras, e historia. Por ejemplo, el Jardín Musical tiene flores pequeñas acompañadas con música al aire libre. El Jardín Natural incluye flores poco comunes. Y el Jardín de Naranjales, dedicado a la familia real de Orange,  contiene 18 tipos de tulipanes en diferentes tonos de naranja.

Habíamos planeado nuestro viaje para poder observar y disfrutar la exhibición sin fin de tulipanes. Esperábamos recorrer el camino de los campos floridos de bulbos y visitar ese jardín de flores impresionante. ¡Todo un viaje dedicado a una flor! Pero ese año, desafortunadamente, la temporada de tulipanes fue corta debido a una ola de calor. Así que nos tuvimos que conformar con una visita a Aalsmeer. Aquí se encuentra la casa de subasta de flores más grande del mundo. Con 19 millones de flores subastadas diariamente, es todo un acontecimiento.

Las flores son recolectadas generalmente en las tardes o las noches y son entregadas directamente al salón de subasta, guardadas en almacenes refrigerados. Entre 5 AM y 6 AM son examinados por calidad y pasando inspección, son cargados en carritos y llevado a uno de los cinco salones de subasta. Los compradores se sientan en filas en frente de enormes relojes que muestra el precio del lote bajo consideración. Empiezan con un precio elevado y rápidamente baja,  en una cuenta regresiva. El primer distribuidor que aprieta el botón computarizado de su sitio se convierte en el comprador de ese lote.

Este edificio es del tamaño de 120 canchas de fútbol, y es clasificado por Guinness, como el edificio comercial más grande del mundo. Los visitantes caminan sobre un pasadizo por arriba del piso donde millones de flores esperan ser subastada. Después, desde las galerías especiales, pueden observar los procedimientos intrigantes y complejos que ocurren simultáneamente en las cinco salas.  Es como un Wall Street para la industria de flores y plantas. La rosa sigue siendo la más popular seguida por el tulipán y  más de 75% de las flores subastada aquí son exportadas al extranjero. Inclusive, los precios negociados de flores enviadas directamente de un país, por ejemplo como Colombia, a otro son  directamente basados en los precios diarios en Aalsmeer.  

Al final fue solo una mañana dedicada a una flor.  Pero me quedé con las ganas de presenciar esos legendarios campos de tulipanes, esa exposición de horticultura mundialmente famosa. Pero Ámsterdam y Holanda es más que tulipanes: también es el país de molinos de viento, arte, quesos sabrosos y arquitectura pintoresca. Será motivo de otra visita a este pequeño pero gran país de tanta  belleza natural y atributos culturales. Y por supuesto, ¡será motivo de otro futuro relato!

otros datos

vía: Ámsterdam, la capital de Holanda, es accesible por vuelos directos desde Miami por KLM

sugerencias: Tanto a los jardines Keukenhof  como a la subasta de Aalsmeer  es recomendable llegar temprano en la mañana. Los jardines se llenan de visitantes mas tarde y en el caso de Aalsmeer, es preferible para poder observar la subasta en acción.

aalsmeer:

·         situación: Está ubicada a 10 millas al sur de Ámsterdam, cerca de su aeropuerto Schipol. Se puede visitar como parte de una excursión guiada o por su propia cuenta desde la estación de ferrocarriles Ámsterdam Centraal Station, por el autobús #172

·         Horario: Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer  , está abierto al público de lunes a viernes, de 7:00 AM-11:00 AM, el lunes suele estar mas concurrido y el jueves, mas tranquilo

·         Entrada: Adultos/5 Euros y Niños (6-11 años)/3 Euros

keukenhof:

·         situación: Están ubicados a 20 millas al suroeste de Ámsterdam en Lisse.  En la temporada, es accesible por tren desde la estación de ferrocarril Ámsterdam Centraal hasta Leiden conectando al Autobús #54 (Keukenhof Express) o por taxi (www.treintaxi.nl)/ en 30 minutos o en estilo muy holandés, por bicicleta bordeando los campos de tulipanes.

·         Horario: En 2011,  estará abierto de 24 Marzo – 20 Mayo diariamente de 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Queda solo unos dias!

·         Entrada: Adultos/21 Euros, 65+/18 Euros y Niños/11 Euros

Verona, Italy: The setting of one of the famous romantic legends

By: Patricia Sendra

"It was here where the beautiful Juliet heard the declaration of the love of her Romeo" the tour guide explained while the dozens of tourists squeezed into the small interior garden. We looked upwards, and saw a rather the rather tiny stone balcony with arched cutouts in its sides.  The young Italian guide continued recounting the story we all knew so well but still found so captivating. A few sighs were even heard amongst the crowd as those legendary words were said. We were in Verona, the City of Love.

This is the city where the legend of the famous lovers was born. And even after centuries, the legend still persists. In this interior patio, some visitors scrawl random declarations of love like graffiti on the wall. Others follow the tradition of rubbing the bronze statue of Juliet, believing it will bring them luck in finding their 'true' love. And Verona looks to oblige them all, offering walking tours including sites such as this one, Juliet's home, as well as Romeo's home, their wedding church and even Juliet's tomb, the scene of the tragic end of the story.

The only small noteworthy detail is that Romeo & Juliet apparently never existed. The story of the star-crossed lovers has been traditionally attributed to William Shakespeare, the English playwright, but it has been said that it was the fruit of the imagination of ancient Italian writers. Although it is thought to be based on two real Veronese families, that appears to be the only authentic element. The characters, the events and the aforementioned sites are pure fiction.  Centuries later, however, Verona adopted the protagonists, converting them into local figures and the story took a life of of its own. And like that, it has turned into an entertaining stop in a tour of the region.

I returned to Verona on another occasion, as part of a grand escorted excursion through Italy. The guide, of course, took us directly to the Juliet's house. Since I was well-acquainted with the balcony, (with its image well preserved in my previous trip photographs), I decided instead to get to know more in depth this picturesque city, situated on the banks of the Adige river.

I asked her directions on how to get to the famous Roman amphitheater. She responded that it would be impossible for us to do so due to the distance and our short stay in this city and stated she had no other suggestions for places to see on our own. Being slightly rebellious tourists, we still abandoned the group, deciding to just ramble through the city's narrow medieval streets in the allotted time. We were happily well rewarded-we discovered that apart from the famous legend, Verona was a jewel full of ancient monuments, elegant architecture and impressive history.

We quickly found ourselves in one its most famous plazas, the Piazza delle Erbe. Full of picturesque kiosks & stalls, this is the site of an interesting open air market. But the mercantile activity tends to hide the beauty of the buildings that surround the plaza. Many of these medieval buildings still retain their colorful frescoed facades with their brilliant colors. Even more interestingly, you can still glimpse vestiges of the ancient Roman forum around the plaza.

We continued strolling, at an even but slow pace, enjoying Verona’s medieval churches with glimpses of its Renaissance buildings and magnificent palaces along the way. Half an hour later, after all our exploration, we found ourselves in another important plaza of Verona, Piazza Bra. And what surprising building did we find there? Well, the piazza is the home of the famous amphitheater, the very one that supposedly we could not possibly reach during our afternoon visit!

The amphitheater, more popularly known as the Arena, was built in the 1st century AD and is surprisingly very well preserved, having even survived an earthquake during its history. In fact, it is the most important monuments of the city, and one of the most representative buildings of the ancient Roman era, outside of Rome itself. The Arena remains in use to this day, primarily as a venue for opera and other theatrical spectacles. Other structures dating back to that era found in Verona include bridges, arches, city gates, and a Roman theater.

We had a short visit of the amphitheater and still had ample time to rejoin the group. So, what did I learn from this experience? First and foremost, that one should not trust one's tour director blindly in regards to the historical facts, possible excursions and (certainly not) directions.  Pre-trip research goes a long way as well as a little knowledge of history of the cities and villages that you plan to visit. If not, you run the risk of missing the more important monuments of a city or getting a feel for its sites & sounds. In the case of Verona, it is involves straying from the popular Romeo & Juliet tour stops. But, on the other hand, I also learned it doesn't hurt to get lost in the myths and legends of the past.  For what is traveling, if not to escape reality? In the case of Verona, it is all about a passionate legend of love. And today, on Valentine's Day, isn't it important to believe in the magic of love?

Additional data:

·         Transportation: Verona is accessible by plane (Catullo Airport), train and/or auto & bus service from Venice or Milan (+ 2 hours). The historic center is closed to traffic but it is compact and easy to explore on foot.

·         Shopping: Via Mazzini, a pedestrian street is known for the high end fashion houses. Corso Portoni Borsari, Via Roma, Via Cappello, and Piazza delle Erbe are other popular shopping areas. Some stores (and most churches) still close from noon until late afternoon.

·         Gastronomy: Specialties include the gnocchi; peperate (boiled beef with 'peara' a pepper sauce with cheese sauce); rice pilota (with pork); bigoli (spaghetti with sardines) and seafood (especially trout) due to its proximity to Lake Garda.

·         Events: The Arena offers opera, ballet and symphony performances (tickets at www.arena.it) and the Roman Theater offers a Shakespeare festival, during the summer.

·         Curiosities:

o   The supposed tomb of Juliet , according the tragic conclusion of the story is located in ancient convent (San Francesco al Corso) and ironically the convent is a sought-after location for civil weddings.

o   The tragic love story so inspires the lovelorn that 'Juliet' receives letters from all over the world. Since the 1930's or so, volunteers have been answering the letters and even formed an organization known as Juliet's Club.   This was the inspiration for the recent movie, Letters to Juliet. 

o   Verona is also the city that inspired another important literary work, the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri. One can admire a statue dedicated to the epic poet in another one of the city's plazas, the piazza dei Signori.